Post-secondary institutions key to wider understanding of Truth and Reconciliation

Post-secondary institutions are a key element to better understanding theTruth and Reconciliation process and what's needed to implement changes in Canadian society,Jean Becker,senior advisor for Indigenous initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. believes.

She told CBC Radio's The Morning Editionin Kitchener that post-secondary institutions "are prone to say weare producing leaders in society"and therefore have a role in ensuring students get a complete understanding of what Truth and Reconciliation is all about.

"A lot of people are interested in understanding what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended, they're interested in doing somethingabout it but for the most part people are not sure what it all means," she said, " and I think that they look to Indigenous people to lead the way."

Post-secondary institutionsare important venues, she says, "for addressing 150 years of injustice and really helping us as Indigenous people to restore our communities, our cultures, our education."

A living example

Becker, an Inukfrom Labrador, was educated in a Residential School that only recently was acknowledged as part of thenational system that forbade Indigenous languages and practices and punishedchildren who spoke their mother tongue.

Many Indigenous children also suffered various forms of abuse in the schools.

The primeminister is scheduled to visit her home region in late November to deliver an apology from the federal government.

Post-secondary role

Becker believes that in realitymany higher educational institutions are leaders, not followers, when it comes to talking about Canada's Indigenous heritageand history.

"I like to say that [post-secondary institutions] started responding before the TRC," she said, pointing to Trent University in Peterborough, Ont as a leader.

"For the past 40 years [Trent] has had Indigenizing curriculum, indigenous faculty... they've been a real boost in developing Indigenousscholars."

She still sees a gap, however in the numbers of Indigenous administration staff at higher learning centres.

• Laurier establishes Indigenous Curriculum Specialist

"I think thatLaurierhas stepped up to make the structural changes," she said pointing to her own role at the university, where the organizational chart was modified so thatshe reports directly to the president.

The curriculum and other elementscan be updated, she said, but widespread and permanent change will be delayed "until [universities] have that structural change there are policies that need to be changed and we need administrators to do that work."

Wider scope

The forum is part of aCanada 150 series of public discussions on national issues, sponsored byWaterloo University and WilfirdLaurierUniversity.

Hosting public panel discussions, Becker says, is part of a wider transparency and educational effort post-secondary institutions can provide on Truth and Reconciliation.

"The injustices are very clear. Once you start to read, once you start to understand the history of Canada and the implications of the policies beginning with the IndianAct you understand this has to be redressed."